Messy Nessy’s Cabinet

 I meant to go the day Messy Nessy’s new shop, Cabinet opened in April, at 19, rue de Bièvre, 75005. On Wednesday the 86 bus threw us off at Mutualité Maubert. I checked Google..Cabinet is a 3 minute walk 🏃‍♀️ from bd. Saint Germain. Allons-y! 

 I’m not sure what I was expecting but this was so much more…

And there is a serene pocket park exactly across the street.

In honor of Danielle Mitterrand, a resistance fighter and wife of President François Mitterrand.You could easily take a pique-nique 🧺 perhaps..

Back inside Messy’s shop, you feel like you’ve been invited into someone’s private home museum.

Messy Nessy A.K.A. Vanessa Grall has an artist, Maissa Toulet on Ile de Ré making these imaginative boxes. 

What exactly is a cabinet of curiosities? Idiosyncratic collections of objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings), and antiquities. Thank you Wikipedia.

Another artist puts together collections of Hemingway’s vintage fishing fly tackles. Memories of my dad letting me bait his hooks on the S. Jersey coast when I was 5, 6 years old. Did you ever do that?

Many treasures are scattered amidst your favorite Paris books 📕 Elaine Sciolino’s The Seine. Placed appropriately next to Messy Nessy’s special Eau de Seine perfume (best left unopened 🛑). An affordable luxury (20€).

Hand-collected by none other than Madame Messy Nessy herself from the Seine waters near l’Île Saint Louis! What a fabulous gift 🎁 souvenir to take home, next to ripping up a pavé cobblestone from Paris’ streets for bookends (but so much heavier).

Vanessa is usually in the shop during the week - friendly and approachable. For ‘Nessy’s complete background story go here. Ever wished you had an assistant to research unique travel plans for you. To recommend the best local secrets? Nessy is a concierge as well if you have a special trip or secret dream place in mind🤔 And there is a KEY holders 🔑club!

Do you know her 3 books of travel secrets? Don’t Be A Tourist in Paris, London & NewYork.

Another collection of somewhat related items to browse.

Is everything for sale? I think so. Ask the concierge ☺️

A place to sit and relax reminded me of this Louis Carmontelle painting. Vanessa’s taste runs to 17th & 18th century brocante. A cup ☕️ of thé vert would be nice…

Almost forgot! Tiny watercolor handmade paint set from Lilian May of the UK.

A box of miscellaneous Paris trash put together by Vanessa. I’ll take it!

U.S. heat wave 🥵 has caught up with Paris for a day or two.  Where is my Marie-Antoinette hand fan? I hope you enjoyed this visit to Messy Nessy’s Cabinet. It’s like some other Paris shops but more fun, more relaxing in my opinion.

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I’m Carol Gillott, an artist living in Paris. Every month I send out beautifully illustrated letters that capture the true Parisian experience. 

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